Skip to content

Posts from the ‘Family’ Category

May 7

8 Comments

Remember Happy, Visit Often

“I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn’t arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I’m going to be happy in it.” – Groucho Marx

“Smile, it's free therapy.” – Douglas Horton

“Smile, it’s free therapy.” – Douglas Horton

Ridiculously busy days filled nonstop meetings, hundreds of emails and unreasonable people can throw you for a loop, off your game and out of whack. In the midst of the chaos, which is actually the illusion, we need to remember happy and visit often.

It’s right there next to you, holding your hand. Stop, leave the “emergency” rooms of life and take in what’s good, really good. Memories made, memories in process and memories to come – make them happen. Friends, family, a broad smile and a lick on the forehead cures all.

Apr 29

5 Comments

Collage

“For the meaning of life differs from man to man, from day to day and from hour to hour. What matters, therefore, is not the meaning of life in general but rather the specific meaning of a person’s life at a given moment.” – Viktor E. Frankl

Moments pass so quickly. We’re young and then we’re not. We surrender too much time to worry and what if, frivolously letting joy-filled moments pass by without notice. Looking through a box of old photos, I found some photos that capture simple family moments. There’s a special beauty and clarity in black and white photos.

“Be grateful for the home you have, knowing that at this moment, all you have is all you need.” – Sarah Ban Breathnach

“Be grateful for the home you have, knowing that at this moment, all you have is all you need.” – Sarah Ban Breathnach

A collage – a story of family, youth, fun, love. Family history that has lead to this very day. A reminder that while we age, we need not be old. Each day, we can choose to be grateful, to love more and to linger in the simplicity and depth of each moment.

Apr 20

2 Comments

New Beginnings

“Almost every hour of every day, we’ll find ourselves in a situation where we can be now who we weren’t before, because we know now what we didn’t know before. And from this newness in our being springs fresh opportunities we could never have imagined. God specializes in new beginnings.” – Marianne Williamson

“Love makes the world less worldly, less dense, more transparent to the divine dimension, the light of consciousness itself.” – Eckhart Tolle

“Love makes the world less worldly, less dense, more transparent to the divine dimension, the light of consciousness itself.” – Eckhart Tolle

Easter shouts for joy and proclaims the promise of new beginnings and everlasting life. As the sun burns off the fog, there’s a new clarity and vision. We do not walk alone and road ahead need not be defined by miles gone by. Forge ahead confident, open to receiving the gift of awesome possibilities beyond your imagination.

Apr 18

4 Comments

Open Arms

Yesterday was one of those frustrating days when I wanted to throw my hands up in the air, give up and walk away. Tired of the battle to bend, accommodate, cave, give in. Games, politics, egos. This morning with some rest and much needed perspective, throwing my hands up is exactly what I should do. Give up and let go of my expectations and demands of the way I think it should be. Opening my arms to trust God’s plan rather than my own and release the rest of it. Following the path of unknowing, knowing that I will not be lead astray.

On Good Friday, we have a tremendous model of open arms, stretched out on a cross suffering unbearable anguish and humiliation all in sacrifice and service for others, for us. And while we have our share of crosses in this life, none compare to the depth and all encompassing weight of the cross borne today.

Good Friday is an ever comforting reminder that we are never alone on our journey and that we are loved and understood deeply. And when we let go, those things we think that will break us actually are put in their proper place and we are broken free from the unimportant. Our limited view expands to one of awesome peace, saving grace and gratitude. Easter always comes. Arms wide open.

Apr 15

2 Comments

Love Always Wins

“Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love.” – Francis of Assisi

The one year anniversary of the Boston Marathon terrorist bombings; a former KKK member and racist kills three people outside two Jewish facilities in Kansas City the night before Passover; Judas betrays Jesus for thirty pieces of silver.

As darkness shows itself through unfathomable acts of hatred and evil, the story always has the same ending. Love wins the day. Healing comes with time. Hearts soften to start to beat again. Heroes rise and show us how to live stronger, filled with hope despite it all.

Sow love.

Apr 6

5 Comments

Unseen

“We do not need more intellectual power, we need more spiritual power. We do not need more of the things that are seen, we need more of the things that are unseen.” – Calvin Coolidge

At first glance, Salvador Dali’s Gala Contemplating the Mediterranean Sea is a naked woman looking out a window. A longer look reveals that the window is the shape of a cross and even closer, the crucifixion of Christ. There are several other elements, layers and meanings throughout the painting. And by stepping back 20 meters, a portrait of Abraham Lincoln suddenly appears. Layers on layers, depth, dimension, the picture in the picture, the unseen unfolds right in front of us.

When we realize that there’s so much that we don’t see, our world of people and places brightens and deepens, a story to be told and heard. Instead of seeing through eyes filtered by the past, judgment or assumption, we can look longer from different angles, asking questions to pursue what’s beneath the facade. In each of us, the unseen is waiting to be uncovered, revealed, shared, honored and asked to come out and play.

“Surrealism is destructive, but it destroys only what it considers to be shackles limiting our vision.” –Salvador Dali

“Surrealism is destructive, but it destroys only what it considers to be shackles limiting our vision.” –Salvador Dali
The Dali Museum, St. Petersburg, Florida

Mar 27

13 Comments

Fullness

“It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.” – Henry David Thoreau

"Time is only that we may find God." - St. Bernard

“Time is only that we may find God.” – St. Bernard

We live in parts and pieces, fragments really. As we swiftly move through the day with thoughts racing to what’s next, we miss the depth and breadth, the fullness. We accept defeat and despair without question. We owe the same to joy and hope.

We are not broken, we are whole. Life is not lacking, it’s full and overflowing with wonder, beauty and bounty. Slow down. Step back. Breath it in. Leave the valley, ascend the hill and see the mighty expanse, the big picture.

All of the pieces and fragments weave together to make up a complete life filled with blessings. We need only see what’s right in front of us, longing to be seen, felt and lived out completely. If only we dare to receive it.

Mar 18

6 Comments

Witness

“Observe, record, tabulate, communicate. Use your five senses. Learn to see, learn to hear, learn to feel, learn to smell, and know that by practice alone you can become expert.” – William Osler

Last night, I strolled through photos – birthdays, water skiing, vacations, graduations, every day moments. It seems like yesterday and we look so young. Photos allow us to witness our lives, our journey. Slices of life – moments captured, memories made. As we get swept away with daily “busyness,” we let moments pass unnoticed.

This photo is absolutely one of my favorites of my parents, Molly and Elly. Today marks the day four years ago that I had to say good-bye to Elly after 12 years of friendship and sweet memories. While I still miss her every day, I am grateful for being a witness to and participant in her life and hers in mine. Take notice. See, hear, feel and express your gratitude each day to those who walk the journey with you. It’s a good life, a very good one. Embrace it.

“A happy family is but an earlier heaven.” – George Bernard Shaw

“A happy family is but an earlier heaven.” – George Bernard Shaw

Mar 17

4 Comments

Plentiful

“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” – Anne Frank

“Find out how much God has given you and from it take what you need; the remainder is needed by others.” – Saint Augustine

“Find out how much God has given you and from it take what you need; the remainder is needed by others.” – Saint Augustine

As spring takes its time to arrive, the warmth of the sun assures that it will come and stay for a while.  As winter takes its time to depart, the grass peeking out in patches assures that it will leave for a while. Seasons come and go as time keeps unfolding before us. And the alarm is going off. It’s your wake up call. Capture each moment while you are in it. Each moment, each season brings its own gifts to be opened.

Be impatient. Do not wait to change the world. Find those who need you and need them in return. Plant seeds of hope, water them with enthusiasm. A beautiful pink bouquet is waiting to bloom. There is plenty for all. Cast light. Cast pink.

Mar 9

2 Comments

Beneath

“The day the Lord created hope was probably the same day he created Spring.” – Bernard Williams

Beneath the weight of the snow lies green grass ready to awaken, flowers ready to burst from the earth. The warmth of the sun brings a slow, steady melt. Renewed and refreshed from the dormancy of Winter, Spring patiently waits to unfold in its time.

Through the seasons of our life, we cycle from hibernation to fruition, never the same, growing and unfolding into ourselves. We can remain buried beneath the layers and weight or we can let the heaviness melt away, letting go, forgetting, forgiving, moving on.

Spring releases Winter. We need not carry it any further. It has served its purpose. Melt, soften, become more gentle. Breakthrough the layers, burst, bud, bloom. Be bright, bold and beautiful. Beneath, beneath, Spring has come.

“The winter solstice has always been special to me as a barren darkness that gives birth to a verdant future beyond imagination, a time of pain and withdrawal that produces something joyfully inconceivable, like a monarch butterfly masterfully extracting itself from the confines of its cocoon, bursting forth into unexpected glory.” – Gary Zukav

“The winter solstice has always been special to me as a barren darkness that gives birth to a verdant future beyond imagination, a time of pain and withdrawal that produces something joyfully inconceivable, like a monarch butterfly masterfully extracting itself from the confines of its cocoon, bursting forth into unexpected glory.” – Gary Zukav

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »